


I'm Feeling Better Ever Since You Know Me

by Turq8



Category: The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-01 22:59:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6540070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turq8/pseuds/Turq8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Oh my god… why are we such idiots?"<br/>A follow-up to the events of episode 15</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Feeling Better Ever Since You Know Me

Caleb was pacing nervously in his room when he heard the doorbell ring downstairs. He could still feel the after-ripples of his mother's confusion as she went to open the door, had been feeling them since he had run out of his therapy session 45 minutes early and announced that they had to go home, _right now, Mom._ It had taken everything in him not to spill the events of the previous 15 minutes to her, but this time he wanted to wait until he knew for sure where he and Adam stood.

He heard the door open, heard his mom inviting Adam in and telling him that Caleb was in his room, heard Adam's feet tramping up the stairs- he always took them two at a time-, heard one then two knocks on the door. He didn't need his abilities to know that Adam was freaking out as much as he was- Adam usually didn't wait for a response. 

"Yeah, uh, come in." Caleb cringed at how hoarse his voice sounded, but then the handle turned and Adam was stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. For a moment, they just stared at each other before Caleb refocused, shaking his head and clearing his throat. "So, um, let's talk?" He sat down on the floor and wiped his suddenly very sweaty palms on his jeans. Adam nodded once and sat down next to Caleb, close enough to talk without fear of Caleb's mom overhearing if she "just happened" to walk down the hall, but far enough to give Caleb his space. They both very carefully looked at everything in the room except each other. Caleb felt like he was going to throw up, but he didn't know if it was him, or Adam, or the mixture of both of their emotions that was overwhelming him. Suddenly, talking to Adam on the phone had seemed a lot simpler. Adam looked at his watch and Caleb felt a pang of apologetic sheepishness from him. 

"I can't stay that long, my parents barely let me come in the first place. Something about not wanting me to skip out on study time, you know how they get about school." Caleb nodded, taking a steadying breath and blowing it out slowly.

"Okay, so just so we're 100% on the same page here, you like me, and I like you. Like, romantic styles." Adam eyed him and nodded slowly, a small grin sliding onto his face. Caleb felt the waves of apprehension rolling off of Adam ebb significantly and blew out another breath. "Okay! Okay, great!" He leaned forward a little, unconsciously, and Adam mirrored him. "Because that's what I was trying to tell you last night, that's what the confession about my powers was supposed to lead up to." Adam snorted.

"Telling me you had superpowers wasn't even the biggest news of the night?" 

Caleb smiled back.

"Yeah, guess which one I was more nervous about."

"But you _knew_ I liked you back!"

"I honestly didn't! My _therapist_ had to explain to me what that fluttery feeling in your stomach meant, and even then I wasn't sure it was _yours_ until today!" At this, both boys burst into laughter, all tension gone from the room.

"Oh my god… why are we such idiots?" Adam rubbed his hands over his face, trying to catch his breath.

"Hey, you were totally justified. If anyone's the idiot here, it was me."

"Yeah, you - what was it? 'Broke your fucking superpower?'" Adam nudged Caleb playfully, and Caleb nudged back before they both collapsed into another fit of giggles. It was like the way things had been between them before, but somehow better. More relaxed, more confident.

"So, we good?"

"Yeah, I'd say we're good." Caleb leaned back against the side of his bed, and Adam scooted to lean next to him. The space between them lessened, but they weren't quite touching yet.

"So, this feeling- powers thing. How exactly does it work?" Adam asked, changing the subject. He was curious and intrigued, the way he sometimes got when they did homework together and he got distracted by a particularly interesting rabbit-hole of article links that were increasingly less related to the homework topic.

Caleb rolled his eyes. "That's what I've spent the last several months trying to figure out with Dr. Bright. She says it means I'm an empath. I kind of, get waves of people's emotions, but not the thoughts or reasons that go with them. So, uh, before we really met, I knew you were sad a lot of the time, but not why." Adam looked down at his lap. "See, and now I can tell you're kind of embarrassed about that, but I know why this time. But anyway," Caleb continued, trying to move on quickly, "like I said on the phone, your feelings and my feelings were so similar that I thought they were all me, just really strong. And then I uh, kinda forgot that just because I was in sync with you didn't mean you were in sync with me," Caleb mumbled the last bit. Adam's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Can't you tell the difference between the way that other people feel things, and the way that you do?" He asked.

Caleb shrugged. "Most of the time, yeah. I've explained it to Dr. Bright by saying that people have different colors, with a little bit of mixing between their feelings and mine." He hesitated, looking down at his hands where they were twisted together in his lap. "But, yours have always been different. If you're blue, and I'm yellow, I feel green. And not like, pale Easter green or anything. Really strong, bright green that washes out everyone else." Caleb could feel his cheeks heating up, but he pressed on. "When you're nearby, I can't feel anyone else's emotions. That's what I first noticed about you in English. It was… weird at first, but it became kind of nice. Like always having a bunch of TVs and radios on in the background, and trying to sort through it, and someone came in and turned all of them down except one." Adam reached out and placed his hand over Caleb's. It was soft on Caleb's rougher ones. Their eyes met.

"Can you tell how I'm feeling right now?"

"Um, nervous. Excited though? Like you're anticipating something. The uh, the stomach butterflies are going crazy, but I'm really not sure which of us that is."

"I'm feeling like I want to kiss you." It was a declarative statement, but the way Adam's voice lilted up at the end made it into a question. Goddamnit, why was he thinking about English grammar when Adam was so close, leaning in even closer, bright eyes closing. Caleb had just started to lean in himself when-

"Hey, can I get you boys any snacks? Juice? I just got a bag of those snap pea crisps you like, Adam," Caleb's mom's voice came through the door. Caleb leaned back against his bed and stifled a groan while Adam turned towards the door. 

"No thanks, Mrs. Michaels, we're fine in here," he yelled back. He leaned back and gently pulled Caleb's hands from his face with a smile, interlacing their fingers. Unfortunately, he caught sight of his watch and his smile fell. "Caleb, I have to go before my parents get pissed." He sighed, running a hand through his hair before getting up and offering a hand to Caleb. "Walk me to my car?" Caleb nodded and let himself be pulled up. 

He led Adam down the back staircase to avoid the kitchen where his mom was, their hands intertwined again. When they reached the car, Adam started rummaging for his keys in the pocket of his hoodie. 

He was just pulling them out when Caleb made his decision, taking Adam's face in his hands and tilting his face up so he could capture his lips with his own. He heard the sound of metal keys hitting asphalt but couldn't bring himself to care because then Adam's hands were wrapped around his shoulder and the back of his neck, holding him closer, and the butterfly feeling doubled, then quadrupled, then increased a hundred times over. He gently parted his lips and felt more than heard Adam sigh against them before he pulled back just enough to make eye contact.

"I really do have to go," he said ruefully. Caleb nodded and stepped back as Adam retrieved his keys from where he had dropped them. Blushing furiously (though Caleb was sure that his face wasn't much better), Adam leaned in for a quick peck, turned to his car, seemed to reconsider, turned back for one more kiss, then opened the door and got in.  
"I'll see you at school tomorrow?" School. Where everyone would see him and Adam. Together. Everyone would know that he wasn't straight. At the moment, looking at Adam, Caleb couldn't particularly bring himself to care. He nodded and stepped back as Adam started the car, raising a hand in farewell as Adam drove down the street until he couldn't see the car anymore.

 

At dinner that night, Caleb's mom asked him if he and Adam were able to work everything out between them. He smiled down at his plate, didn't see the looks his parents exchanged and his sister's raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, we did. We're good. We're really, really good."

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Feel Again" by OneRepublic, which is such an Adleb song it physically hurts me  
> It was a little difficult to nail down their voices, especially because we've only heard like, 5 lines from Adam (mostly I just wondered how I, a fellow awkward teen, would respond), but I think I did okay.  
> (and shhhh I know that the bonus texts Lauren posted about them walking to school together mean that Adam probably doesn't have a car, but I kinda forgot that not everyone went to high school 13 miles from their house like I did, and I wanted to write Adam dropping his keys. Sue me.)


End file.
